Body Switchin' With the Boss
by Murayama Tsuru
Summary: Abuto wakes up one morning to find he is now, somehow in Kamui's body. Unfortunately, he has no idea how this happened (or what witch he pissed off this time) and so the search begins to reverse whatever the hell happened to him and his boss. He really does feel like the unluckiest Yato in the entire universe...
1. Did Abuto Anger a Witch Again?

**Hello again or for the first time, Murayama Tsuru here. Here is the first chapter of a story starring Abuto and Kamui! I really felt like going back to these two and I've had an idea for this sort of story for a little while. So, I decided to start it today. Here is the first chapter, I hope you guys enjoy ^_^**

_**Disclaimer: I don't own Gintama; it belongs to Sorachi Hideaki-Sensei.**_

Abuto woke up with sweat on his brow and a curse on his lips. He'd just had some nightmare or other, but he couldn't remember the contents for the life of him. That was not a good thing. It was definitely time for a shower. The sandy haired Yato got out of bed, but immediately stopped. Looking around, he thought aloud, "This isn't my room. Where am I?"

Something also felt off, everything seemed farther away and he felt strangely off balance. Figuring some stupid witch had done something to him again (like turning him into a woman), Abuto felt up his chest for any (very unwanted) breasts. Thankfully, he felt none; at least he didn't have to call Mikazuki Tsumi and ask her what went wrong with her mom this time.

But then Abuto realized something, he had used both hands to feel his chest. Since when did he have two hands? He'd lost his left arm a long time ago due to the admiral's and Hosen-Danna's fight in Yoshiwara. 'Well,' Abuto thought, 'that explains my feeling off balance now doesn't? It seems like I am a starfish after all, if I can grow this arm back…'

Abuto decided that he would need to find a mirror to see what happened this time since he couldn't feel anything wrong, other than having two arms again. Luckily for him, there was a mirror in this room (wherever it was). Abuto felt another wave of relief wash over him, now he wouldn't have to go out and have the whole ship know what happened to him before he did (something he definitely hadn't appreciated last time).

Abuto went over to the mirror and was met with the image of his boss, Kamui. Confused, Abuto opened his mouth to say something, but closed it again as Kamui seemed to have something to say. Abuto waited a moment, but Kamui didn't say anything. And then the realization hit him.

Abuto ran his hand through his hair, and so did the mirror image of Kamui. The (not so sandy-haired anymore) Yato sighed, "Are you serious?" he said aloud, "What did I do to deserve this? Damn, I need to go find the admiral. Who knows how much trouble he can cause in my body…"

With another sigh, Abuto tore the mirror off Kamui's wall (his boss would probably be really confused as there wasn't a mirror in Abuto's room) and left Kamui's room with said mirror tucked under his arm. Hopefully Kamui hadn't woken up yet…

* * *

In another part of the ship, Kamui rolled over in his sleep, right off the edge of his (Abuto's bed). Eyes snapping open, the admiral of the Harusame Space Pirates glared at his bed, wondering how it had gotten so much smaller all of a sudden.

The first thing Kamui had done when he had become admiral of the Harusame Space Pirates was procure a larger bed. It may seem like a stupid thing for a guy who only seems to care about fighting strong opponents and eating, but Kamui loved his sleep as much as eating and fighting. And, being more than a little twitchy in bed, he had gotten sick of rolling out in his sleep (like he had done this morning).

Grumbling in annoyance, Kamui stood up and almost fell over again. What the hell? Kamui suddenly realized that for some reason he felt taller and there was something wrong with the left side of his body, it felt like a weight was missing. To reiterate, what the hell?

Confused, Kamui began looking around for a mirror. If this was his room (and Kamui was getting the feeling that it wasn't), then there should be a mirror somewhere around here, albeit one he never used. There was no mirror, confirming Kamui's suspicions that this wasn't his room. Running his hand through his hair, Kamui was (once again) surprised to find his hair wasn't in its usual braid. Wondering with annoyance if his hair had come undone in his sleep, Kamui reached around to redo his braid. And, he found his hair was a lot shorter than it used to be.

This morning was just getting weirder and weirder. But, Kamui's stomach began to rumble so he decided to put off braiding his hair again until his hunger was sated. But, as Kamui was about to leave the room, but he saw the doorknob turning and jumped back just in time for it to bang open and…himself came into the room, an uncharacteristic scowl on his (?) lips.

Totally confused now, Kamui, no words to explain what was happening right now coming to mind said extremely eloquently, "Huh?"

The Kamui in front of Kamui let out a sigh that radiated absolute relief, "Thank god you didn't leave the room."

Before Kamui could respond to that, the other Kamui closed to door with a bang. Kamui opened his mouth to say something again, but the other Kamui held up a mirror before he could speak again (Kamui didn't like this other Kamui very much). Reflected in the mirror was an image of a very confused looking Abuto.

Kamui raised an eyebrow, so did the image in the mirror and everything began to make sense. Well, that explained the lack of balance Kamui had had earlier and why his hair was too short. It also explained why his bed had been too small this morning. Now understanding what had happened, Kamui asked, "So, Abuto, what witch did you piss off this time?"

The scowl on Abuto's face deepened and Kamui thought to himself, 'Oh, so that's what I'd look like if I scowled'.

Abuto then responded to Kamui's question, "I didn't do anything…that I know of…it must have been your fault."

Kamui lifted an eyebrow and a dark smile appeared on his face, "What was that Abuto? I thought I heard you say it was my fault. Last time I checked, I'm not friends, or enemies, with any witches."

Unfortunately, Abuto recognized that look immediately. Keeping the mirror in front of him (even though it probably wouldn't do as protection at all), Abuto said, "I didn't mean that, admiral. I was just venting. Now if you'll just calm down, I'll call Mikazuki Tsumi and see if she knows what's going on…"

Kamui's smile didn't get any lighter, "You do that Abuto. And you can put down the mirror; I'm not going to attack you. I'm not quite used to this body that only has one arm …yet."

Abuto sighed, and looked as if he didn't believe Kamui in the least. But, he acquiesced and put the mirror down. Abuto then walked over to one of his desk drawers and pulled out a cell phone. Kamui made a mental note about that for later.

Abuto then punched in a couple numbers and put the phone to his ear. After a few moments, someone answered and Abuto said, "Mikazuki Tsumi, it's me, Abuto."

There was a pause and then Abuto growled, "Yes, I realize I don't sound like myself. That's because my soul has been put inside the admiral's body. I can assure, though, my sparkling personality has stayed exactly the same."

There was another pause, "No, I don't believe I've pissed off any witches lately. And, you don't count since you were going to change me into a female anyways. So, could you come over here and see if you can reverse this spell, if it was made by a witch?"

Tsumi must have said something that annoyed Abuto, because the second in command of the 7th squad sighed, "Ok, so I'll owe you. Would you please just come over here and check us out. As much as I think I would enjoy having two arms again, this seems problematic…"

Tsumi said something else, Abuto nodded and said goodbye. He then hung up the phone and Kamui looked at him expectantly, "So, what'd your girlfriend say?"

Abuto raised an eyebrow in confusion, "I don't know what you're talking about, but Mikazuki Tsumi is _not_ my girlfriend. Besides, I don't—"

"You're digressing, Abuto." Kamui interrupted with a grin

Abuto rolled his eyes, that also seemed a very strange gesture to see on his own face, Kamui thought, "So, Mikazuki Tsumi is going to come and check to see if she can undo whatever spell, if it was indeed a spell, on us…"

"But?" Kamui asked, hearing the irritation in Abuto's voice

"But," Abuto said with a sigh, "she can't come until the end of the day."

"Ah," Kamui said, his grin widening enigmatically, "well, I guess that means we're stuck like this for the rest of the day. That really is too bad…"

"Oi," Abuto's eyes narrowed suspiciously, "what's with that look? You better not be up to something, admiral…"

"Oh no, I'm not planning anything at all…admiral." Kamui said, smile growing larger

For a moment, Abuto was very confused about why Kamui had just called him the admiral. And then he remembered that, technically, he was the admiral at the moment. Eyes widening, Abuto growled, "Admiral, you better not be planning what I think you're planning…"

Kamui's grin only grew more and before Abuto could stop himself (a very strange prospect, to be sure), Kamui was out the door. Abuto smacked his hand against his forehead; even when he was in Kamui's body, it seemed as though his boss wasn't going to let him get out of doing the work he usually did…this was going to be an extremely long day…

'No!' Abuto thought, anger burning through him, 'I am not going to let him keep doing this to me! I'm the admiral, sort of, at the moment! So, to keep people from getting suspicious, I'm going to make him do the work he's supposed to be doing in the first place!' Determination in his eyes, Abuto turned, opened the door and barreled after Kamui at full speed.

* * *

The other members of the 7th squad of the Harusame Space Pirates looked on in confusion at the scene in front of them. It wasn't every day that Abuto ran around the ship trying to get out of work (usually when Kamui was concerned, he was a big push over), a grin that seemed to belong to Kamui stretched across his face.

Nor was it typical, though, that Kamui was chasing after his (unofficial) second in command and uncharacteristic scowl on his face that would have been much more at home on Abuto. None of the other members wanted to get involved with what either Kamui or Abuto were doing, so they watched as the two ran around the whole ship.

Eventually, Abuto somehow lost his balance and fell, the grin faltering. Kamui quickly caught up to him. Hoisting the older Yato over his shoulders, 'Kamui' growled, "Ok you brat, you are coming with me back to my office. And you _will _do the paperwork you should have been doing from the beginning. I'll see to that!"

Kamui, with Abuto still slung over his shoulders, then stalked back to Abuto's room for some reason. After the door closed with slam, every member of the 7th squad looked at each other in consternation; nothing like this had happened before…but, none of them wanted to interfere so before anyone had to come tell them to get back to work, the 7th squad scattered to their assigned parts of the ship.

**And that is the end of the first chapter. I had a lot of fun writing it, that I did. And now I've run out of things to say. So, I'll see you next chapter. As always, reviews are always appreciated I love to know what you guys think!**

**-****村山鶴**


	2. What d'ya mean you can't fix this Tsumi?

**Hey guys, Murayama Tsuru here. Here's the second chapter, I hope you enjoy ^_^ I have nothing interesting to say this time, so I'll get right to it ^_^**

_**Disclaimer: I don't own Gintama; it belongs to Sorachi Hideaki-Sensei**_

Once Abuto returned to his room, he closed the door with his foot and set his boss down in a chair. Abuto then looked at Kamui, glare in place, and said, "Now, you need to get started on that paperwork."

"Why would that be? It is usually your job, isn't it?" Kamui asked, making Abuto think once again how weird it was to hear his own voice spoken aloud

Abuto sighed and shook his head, "No, actually, it's yours."

"Exactly," Kamui said with a smile, "and since you're in my body at the moment, that makes it doubly your job."

"And you're in my body." Abuto responded

Kamui gave Abuto a look that said 'so what?' and Abuto smiled then, knowing that (for once) he had the upper hand, "That means, that for the sake of appearances, you should be the one doing the paperwork."

Kamui did not look convinced at Abuto's explanation of why he should be the one doing the paperwork. But after a moment, Kamui nodded, "Sure, Abuto, I'll do whatever paperwork we have."

"Why are you acquiescing so easily?" Abuto asked, suspicion coloring his voice

It was Kamui's turn to smile, "Because, this means that you'll have to start doing my job. A change in pace is always a good thing."

"But, you never do your job to begin with! If anyone needs a change of pace, it's me." Abuto practically roared in response, feeling more than a little livid that Kamui was being so calm about this

But, the admiral of the Harusame space pirates just shrugged, "I do a lot more than you think, Abuto. You'll see."

The scowl that had formed on Abuto's lips since he got back to his room deepened, he didn't really like the sound of what his boss had just said. But, he didn't really feel like arguing anymore. With the weariness he had felt since he learned that he and Kamui had somehow switched bodies thick in in his voice, Abuto said, "Fine, just please get to work. If you need any help, I'll be right here."

Kamui nodded again and asked, "You're not going to leave, Abuto? How do you know I don't have any work that needs to be done at the moment?"

"Just a sneaking suspicion." Abuto answered, "And, if I were to leave you to your own devices, I doubt you'd get any work done either."

"How true." Kamui said in reply as he picked up the first piece of paper on the large stack. After a moment of reading whatever the piece of paper was Kamui looked up and asked, "Abuto, what is this?"

Abuto snorted and held out his hand, "Give it to me. If you can't even figure out what it is, I think we have a long day ahead of us."

Abuto thought he saw a glint of something in his boss's eyes, but Kamui said nothing as he handed the piece of paper over. As Abuto looked at the form, he understood what Kamui meant; this form looked pretty confusing. Abuto sighed again, it seemed to be that time of year again.

Hearing Abuto's sigh, one of Kamui's eyebrows shot upward, "What, you can't figure it out either?"

"Oh, I know what it is." Abuto said, "You don't have to do this one, I'll get to it sometime tomorrow."

An odd look passed over Kamui's face for a moment. But, it was gone before Abuto could really process it and he asked, "So, what is it, then?"

"Intergalactic taxes." Abuto said with a frown, "I'd almost forgotten that we got those a few days ago. As I said, I'll get to it sometime tomorrow."

"Why can't I do it?" Kamui asked, sounding petulant

Abuto gave Kamui a look, "You want to do it? It's not very fun…"

"No, I don't _want_ to do them at all." Kamui responded, that same dark smile returning to his lips, "But the way you said it made me think that you assumed I couldn't do them. Was that the case Abuto? If so, I may have to learn to fight with my handicap a lot sooner than I expected."

Abuto groaned, "No, that's not it at all. Please don't misunderstand, admiral…"

"What's there to misunderstand?" Kamui said standing up, "the implication was clear. Do you need a repeat of what happened with Hosen-Danna?"

"No, that's ok." Abuto said, starting to panic more than just a little, he couldn't tell is the admiral was being serious at the moment or joking

"Then why don't you let me do the taxes?" Kamui asked again

Abuto opened his mouth to say something, but he realized that he _didn't _think Kamui could do the taxes. He didn't really think anyone else could do them either, but that clearly wasn't the issue at the moment. Floundering, Abuto said, "I don't know, they just don't sound like something you'd want to do."

Kamui's grin grew wider, "I think we've established that I don't want to do them. But I still want to know why you don't want me to do them."

Giving up, Abuto threw his hands up, "Fine, you're right. I don't think you'd do them very well. And that would reflect badly on the rest of Harusame. Quite frankly, though, I don't think I can do them earlier. I was going to go see if I could find some sort of expert in Edo later…"

Kamui's grin diminished to only slightly psychotic then, "That actually makes sense…Fine, I won't have to teach you a lesson you won't soon forget. Huh, I just realized something. If I did anything to you, then it just would have rebounded onto me later. I'm amazed you didn't call my bluff, Abuto. You seem to be good at seeing through that sort of thing."

Abuto sighed, relief coursing through him, "Not with you, admiral. You're…a little harder to read."

Kamui, already having moved on from the issue about Abuto not thinking he would be able to do taxes, realized something else, "Abuto, why do pirates have to do taxes anyway? Really, why do we have to do any paperwork? If we're pirates, shouldn't we just take what we want and not care about the consequences?"

"Hell if I know," Abuto responded, "I thought the same thing. But, I think that even the Harusame have to comply with the intergalactic laws that went into effect after that foolish war the Samurai decided to wage. Also, though, I think we have more paperwork than other squads because you don't seem to be able to control yourself very well…" he finished with a mumble

"What was that, Abuto?" Kamui said, grin widening again, "you shouldn't mumble, you know. I've suddenly gotten a lot older, so my hearing doesn't seem to be what it used to be."

Abuto scoffed, "I'm not _that _old." But, now wanting to start another round of threats against his life, Abuto said, "And I didn't say anything…why don't we get onto that paperwork now…"

"Sure." Kamui nodded and went back to the stack of paper

* * *

Later, towards the evening, Tsumi poofed herself into Abuto's room. She hadn't been expecting a call from him, and now, seeing what lay before her, was a little sorry that she'd had other things to do today. She tried not to laugh, as she saw Abuto working at his desk and Kamui sitting across from him, looking stern; as if he was trying to keep his subordinate from running away. Although this scene seemed rather funny, Tsumi couldn't help but wonder if these two were playing a trick on her. As much as Abuto complained about doing paperwork, from what Tsumi could gather, he never had any intention of trying to get out of it. The psychic girl was more than a little confused.

"Well," Tsumi said, looking on the scene in front of her and voicing her consternation, "this is a little…confusing. I thought you said you'd switched bodies, Abuto-san. But everything looks to be as it usually is."

"Oh no it's not, psychic-san," 'Abuto' responded with an odd smile on his face, "did you know that Abuto was such a task master? I've been this paperwork all day? Who knew we had so much?"

"I did." 'Kamui' responded, an uncharacteristic on his, "I'm the one who has to do it. So, yeah, I know altogether too well how much we have. But, that is beside the point at the moment. Witch girl, can you figure out what's wrong with us? I don't know how much longer I can take this…"

"Take what?" Kamui asked, his smile diminishing just a little, "I'm the one doing all the work. You're just sitting there."

Abuto made a frustrated groan, "It may seem like that. But, it's actually pretty tiring, making sure y."ou don't escape. And, it feels weird, forcing myself to do the paperwork I so hate…I'd rather this be over with sooner. So, let's let the witch girl do what she knows best…maybe."

"Oh yeah," Tsumi chuckled, "you two have definitely switched bodies. Let me see if there's anything I can do."

Tsumi then walked over to Abuto (in Kamui's body) and held her hands a few inches away from him, eyes closed in concentration. After a moment or two, Tsumi's face scrunched up in consternation. She opened her eyes a few moments later and walked over to Kamui to do the same as she did to Abuto. After another few moments, the same confused look crossed her features.

Both Abuto and Kamui not looking especially pleased about that look asked at the same time, "What's wrong?"

"I'm not sure," Tsumi replied, "I don't think I've ever seen a spell like this before…"

"Oh boy," Abuto said, "now we're stuck like this. Is there anything you can do?"

Tsumi scratched her head, looking embarrassed, "I'll have to ask my mother about this to see if she knows anything. But…"

"Let me guess," Abuto said, "she's busy at the moment?"

"Yes," Tsumi said with a sigh, "there's a council of witches going on at the moment. And, due to the events with Kuro-Shinju, my mother has to go and explain what happened. I might be able to find something out if I look though our library, but I'm not sure I'll find anything…"

Abuto had no words for how annoyed he was at this development. Luckily for him, though, Kamui asked, "So, how long will she be gone?"

"A week at most. That's why I couldn't come over earlier; I've taken over my mother's duties for the time being."

"So, what do you propose we do now?" Abuto asked, even more annoyed now that he knew that this weird situation wasn't going to be solved any time soon

Tsumi opened her mouth to retort, not understanding why Abuto seemed mad at her for this. But before she could say anything, Kamui answered for her, a deceptively beatific smile making an appearance, "Well, I'd imagine that the obvious answer to that is we go on with our lives as we normally would."

"Yeah, except there's one problem with that. We can't go on as we normally do. You're in my body and I'm in yours. What part of that makes you think that we can just go on like it's 'business as usual'?"

Smile still in place, Kamui responded, "Well, I imagine that it wouldn't be too good if the rest of the Harusame found out that, once again, their admiral got into some weird situation. So, I suggest you pretend to be me and I will pretend to be you. That way, on the surface at least, things will seem as normal as the situation demands. Is that not what you were about to say psychic-san?"

Tsumi blinked in surprise, "Actually, that was what I was going to say. I think that it would probably be best if the two of you, at least until I can figure something out or ask my mother about your case, pretend to be each other."

Abuto was nonplussed about Kamui and Tsumi agreeing about this. But, at the same time, if they both did agree on something, then, most unfortunately, it was probably the thing to do. With a pained groan, Abuto said, "Oh fine, we can go along with this scheme to pretend to be each other. But, you know, if you two are agreeing on something, the world must be ending…"

Both Tsumi and Kamui raised eyebrows, "Oh, really? Is that what you think Abuto-san?" Tsumi said

"Hmmm," Kamui agreed, cracking his knuckles, "Jiraiya-kun here really does seem to be picking a fight now, doesn't he? Maybe it would be a good idea if you turned him into a woman again."

A mischievous gleam appeared in Tsumi's eyes as she turned to Kamui, making Abuto's heart sink. The witch girl smiled and said, "That sounds like an excellent idea, Kamui-kun…but, unfortunately, I don't have the time for spells at the moment. I must get back to the Yorugao, I have things to do. But, I will try to find out as much as I can about what has happened to you two. I shall see you guys later. Try not to cause too much trouble."

Abuto rolled his eyes and Kamui waved goodbye with a smile on his face. Tsumi nodded and teleported out of the room. Once Kamui and Abuto were alone again, Abuto said, "So, I guess you will be doing my work for a while. Seems like I'll be getting the break I've deserved since you became the admiral."

Kamui smiled in return, making Abuto instantly suspicious, "I wouldn't count on that Jiraiya-kun. As I said, I do a lot more work than you think I do"

"And what work should I be expecting?"

"Well, tomorrow I have to go meet with our partners, the Kiheitai. It seems the one-eyed Osamurai-san wants to talk strategy. I don't really know what strategy he would need, though. After all, how much planning does destruction take?"

**And that is the end of this chapter. Ooh, a (sort of) cliffhanger ^_^ Yeah…that's it…I still don't have anything interesting to say so I'm going to end this note too. As always, if you like please review, I love to know what you guys think. See you next chapter**

**-****村山鶴**


	3. Admiral, Do I Really Need to Do This?

**Hey guys, Murayama Tsuru here. Here's the third chapter of this silly story ^_^ I realized something I wanted to tell you last week; Kamui's voice actor is the same as Sai's from Naruto. I found this out (thanks to Wikipedia) when I was listening to Kamui's voice on YouTube. As I was listening to it, I was thinking, 'Where have I heard that before?' And then I figured it must have been from Naruto since that was the Anime I saw most recently. And I was right, yay! Now two Gintama characters have been made cooler in my mind because they have voice actors from Naruto. And that is the end of my ramblings. I hope you enjoy the chapter ^_^ **

_**Disclaimer: I don't own Gintama; it belongs to Sorachi Hideaki-Sensei**_

"What?" Abuto spat, incredulous, he honestly couldn't believe that he would have to interact with Takasugi Shinsuke tomorrow, it seemed to be an even worse punishment than being forced into Kamui's body (which, when he thought about it wasn't that bad…although he wasn't planning to admit that aloud anytime soon).

Kamui smiled at that, and Abuto thought how wrong that smile looked on his face, "You heard me, Abuto. I have a strategy session with the Kiheitai leader tomorrow."

Abuto groaned, it didn't sound any better the second time the admiral said it. Pinching the bridge of his nose, Abuto groaned again, "Are you serious?"

"Deadly." Kamui said, "I wasn't the one who set up the meeting, though. The one-eyed Osamurai-san did. We are obliged to attend too, if we want to keep our partnership alive."

"The only one who wants that is you, admiral. If only you weren't so obsessed with fighting then we would have ditched him long ago."

"So much for being an ass-kisser, Abuto." Kamui replied with a knowing smirk, "I'm not the only one who finds our 'partnership' beneficial. The Kiheitai were with us long before I met hm and decided he would be a worthy opponent. Unfortunately for you, the higher-ups are much more invested in the Kiheitai and their plans. Which means, you don't get the choice to back out of the meeting."

Abuto was starting to feel the effects of a massive headache coming on. "Does it really have to be tomorrow? Can't we postpone it until this whatever-it-is that has happened to us is solved?"

"I thought you were better at me than this, Abuto." Kamui said with a sigh. At Abuto's raised eyebrow, Kamui continued, "The meeting is tomorrow. Do you really think we can cancel now?"

Abuto was about to shout a resounding 'Yes!', but the more he thought about it, the more he realized that Kamui was right, they couldn't exactly cancel this so close to the meeting date. With another sigh, Abuto said, "Fine, I'll go. But tomorrow, you have to deal with the taxes, ok?"

"Ooh," Kamui said, smile returning full force, "what changed your mind, Abuto? I thought you didn't think anyone in our squad would be able to do them."

"You're right," Abuto said, "I don't. I also said that I was going to take them to someone in Edo tomorrow. But, now the I know I don't exactly have a lot of time tomorrow, you'll have to do it for me."

"Ok," Kamui nodded, "I'll do it. An interesting change of pace tomorrow. Do you know where I need to go."

At that, Abuto scratched the back of his neck sheepishly, "No, I have no idea where to go. I did these last year and had a terrible time. So, I thought I'd go somewhere this year…but I've never done this kind of thing before…"

"Hmm," Kamui said, tapping a finger on his chin, "I guess I could find some place to go. But you know, Abuto, this is a whole lot more work than I was expecting. Do you really think I'm going to let you get away with that?"

Abuto scoffed, "Well, I wasn't exactly expecting to go to a meeting with those damn Kiheitai now, was I? I think, considering what I'll have to deal with tomorrow, your looking for a place to do those taxes is a fair price to pay."

Kamui considered that for a moment, just long enough for Abuto to start worrying and said, "I guess it does seem a fair price. Fine, I'll go find some place to do the taxes. Well, it's probably time for dinner, now. Shall we head to the mess hall?"

Abuto felt his stomach rumble at the mention of dinner and nodded, "Yeah, dinner sounds good." The two then left Abuto's room to go have dinner.

* * *

Later that evening, Abuto returned to Kamui's room, feeling sated from his meal. With a contented sigh, he sank onto Kamui's bed, wondering what he would do now that dinner was over. Usually after dinner, Abuto went back to his room to finish that day's paperwork. But, since h wasn't in his own body at the moment, he didn't have to worry about that; it was a pretty nice feeling.

Just then, Abuto heard a knock on his door. Wondering who in the world would be knocking at Kamui's door after dinner, Abuto called out, "Come in."

The door opened and in came himself (er…Kamui that is). Abuto gave his boss a confused squint and asked, "What are you doing here, admiral?"

Kamui gave Abuto a look at that and Abuto continued speaking, his voice sounding a little rushed, "Not that you can't be here, this is your room after all. But, I thought that you might want to stay in my room tonight so the rest of the squad doesn't get suspicious."

"I am going to be staying in your room tonight, Abuto." Kamui said, the slightly dangerous look still on his face

More confused than ever, Abuto asked, "Then what's up?"

"There's something I forgot to tell you to do." Kamui said

"Yeah," Abuto's eyebrows rose high, "what is it?" The annoyance that his boss was exuding was starting to affect the hapless Yato

Kamui gave an irritated sigh and said, his voice deadly quiet, "You better take care of my hair, Abuto."

Abuto sweatdropped, "What?"

"You heard me." Kamui responded

"Yeah, sure I did." Abuto said, "But why do you care about your hair?"

"You do remember who my old man is, don't you?"

"Oh," Abuto snorted, "I get it. You don't want to end up bald like Umibouzu. I don't think you have anything to worry about, admiral. I mean, you're so much younger than him, you'll have years before hair loss becomes a problem."

Kamui leveled an uncharacteristic glare at Abuto, "I don't think so. I imagine that there is a lot I inherited from that damn old man. Including balding. So, to make sure nothing happens, I take good care of my hair. You need to do the same, got it? If, when this is all over, I find I'm starting to lose my hair, you won't like the consequences."

Abuto put his hands up in surrender, still quite surprised that Kamui was being so adamant about this, "Ok, fine, I'll attempt to take care of your hair. I've never done anything like that before, though, so I can't make any promises. So, what do I have to do?"

"Well," Kamui said, his glare from before diminishing, "you need to wash it with conditioner every day and use shampoo every third day. And, every night, you need to rebraid my hair after you've washed it. Makes it easier to maintain and it keeps my style consistent. Got that, Abuto?

'Absolutely not', Abuto thought. But, aloud, he said, "Sure, I'll try…but, there's one problem…"

"What's that" Kamui asked, his previous glare returning a little

Feeling sheepish, Abuto averted his gaze, "Well, I don't actually know how to braid hair…and it'll be a little hard for you to help me with that because you only have one arm at the moment…"

"Oh, you're right." Kamui sighed, "Well, it isn't that hard to braid hair, you know. You just separate the hair into three large strand and then put the left strand over the one in the middle and then the right strand over the one in the middle; do this until you reach the end and then use a hair-tie to tie it off."

Abuto really wanted to say that was too complicated for him (especially since he did not care two hoots about braiding hair), but the expectant look on Kamui's face had him saying, "Ok, I'll try. But, don't expect anything too good."

Kamui smiled at that, "I'm sure you'll be a quick learner Abuto."

Abuto sighed again, it seems he would have to be quick leaner indeed. "Good night, admiral" Abuto said, suddenly feeling very weary

Kamui, smile still in place said, "Good night Abuto. I hope you enjoy your time with the Kiheitai tomorrow."

"I won't." Abuto replied, "And you need to make sure that those taxes get done, admiral. No getting distracted by food, ok?"

"I'll try." Kamui said as he walked out the door, "But, as you said earlier, I can't make any promises."

With that, Kamui closed the door with a soft clack. Abuto sank down onto the pillows of his new, temporary, bed and groaned loudly. He had no idea that he would have to take care of his boss's hair; it sounded like a royal pain in the ass. But, if he didn't do it he 'wouldn't like the consequences' as Kamui had said. The sound of that wasn't a very good one. With another groan, Abuto stood up and went into the bathroom, it was shower time.

* * *

A while later, Abuto exited the bathroom with a towel around his shoulders and a cloud of steam following close behind him. Now came the hard part; brushing and braiding his (Kamui's?) hair. Abuto was not looking forward to this at all.

After finding a brush, he started pulling it through his hair. After the second pull through, Abuto felt his eyes tearing up; this was painfully hard. Because he seldom brushed his own hair, he had no idea that it could get so tangled. This really wasn't very fun, but with the threat of consequences still looming over his head, Abuto continued brushing Kamui's (his?) hair until it was smooth.

Next was the even harder part…the braid. Despite Kamui's explanation of how to braid hair, Abuto still had no idea what he was doing. He separated the hair into three strands and started doing as Kamui said. But then he finished and something seemed off…everything seemed twisted around and generally wrong.

Annoyed, Abuto undid the awful-looking thing and tried again…and he got the same result. Still feeling persistent, Abuto tried a few more times with the exact same result. Feeling more than a little frustrated, Abuto pulled out the cell phone he had used earlier and dialed Tsumi.

"Hello?" Came a voice that sounded sleepy to Abuto

"Were you asleep?" Abuto said, almost feeling guilty

"Just about to by, Abuto-san." Tsumi responded, "What's up?"

Losing his voice for a moment, Abuto eloquently said, "Um…well…it's a little embarrassing…"

Tsumi sighed after a moment, "Abuto-san, if you're not going to tell me then I'm going to hang up. I've also had a long day and I need some sleep. So, what's wrong?"

Feeling more frustrated than ever, Abuto snapped, "I can't braid Kamui's hair, ok? For some reason he cares about that but I don't know how to do it…could you come over and help me?"

Tsumi chuckled then, all sleep fading from her voice, "Sure, Abuto-san, I can help you out. I'll be there in just a few moments."

"Ok," Abuto said, relief making its way into his voice, "I'll see you then."

Just as soon as Abuto hung up the phone, he heard a soft sound. Turning around, he raised an eyebrow, "That was fast, witch girl." He said with a smile

Tsumi smiled in return, "Not witch girl, Abuto-san. Now, what seems to be the problem?"

Abuto scowled, "I keep trying to braid Kamui's hair but it doesn't seem to be working."

"Ah," Tsumi said with a nod, "I see. Well let me give it a shot to see if I can do it right."

One of Abuto's eyebrows shot up at that, "You're not sure if you can braid hair?"

Tsumi rolled her eyes, "I can do it, Abuto-san. I was just messing with you."

Still feeling skeptical, Abuto rolled his eyes in return, "Sure you can. That seems about as sure as you being able to know what types of spells you cast."

The psychic girl's eyes narrowed at the accusation, "Is that so, Abuto-san? Then it seems I'll have to prove you wrong."

"Go right ahead and try," Abuto taunted, as he turned around to give Tsumi better access to his hair "I'm betting you won't be able to do it."

The red-headed (for the moment) Yato heard Tsumi growl something incomprehensible and the next thing Abuto knew, he was yowling in pain. Blinking through the tears that had sprung once again to his eyes, Abuto turned to Tsumi, who had the brush he had been using earlier in her hands, and growled, "What the hell?"

Tsumi sighed in response, "Well, it seems to me that your hair needs brushing as well. I was just doing what I thought needed to be done. Or, do you think I can't even do that?"

Abuto growled in new-found annoyance, he thought he had done a pretty good job of brushing his hair, but apparently not. "Just get on with it." He snapped, just wanting this to be over with so he could go to bed.

"All right Abuto-san, I'll continue," Tsumi practically purred, Abuto could hear the smirk in her voice, "But don't be so loud the next time, ok? I'm sure there are people trying to sleep."

Abuto grumbled his discontent as Tsumi took the brush to his hair again. After a few more minutes of painful, hair-tugging agony, Tsumi stepped back and said, "Well, I'm done. Is this good enough?"

Abuto pulled the finished braid over his shoulder to inspect it. It looked pretty much as Kamui usually wore it, so Abuto was satisfied. The Yato nodded and, voicing his satisfaction said, "Thanks. Sorry for goading you before. I was just feeling impatient."

"I could tell." Tsumi said, "Well, if that's all you need help with, then I'm going to get going. Feeling pretty tired myself."

"Good night then," Abuto said, "see you when you find something that will change us back…or tomorrow night when I have to braid Kamui's hair again…"

Tsumi chuckled at that, "Good night, Abuto-san." And she poofed out of the room, leaving Abuto alone. Feeling tired again, Abuto wandered over to Kamui's bed and fell into it, practically snoring as he hit the pillow.

**And that is the end of that chapter. Dammit Abuto, because you had trouble braiding you hair, do did I! I had to redo it, dammit!...what, that's my own fault? N-no, I refuse to believe that…ok, fine, it wasn't Abuto's fault…well, that was random too ^_^ so I shall leave you until next chapter. As always, if you'd like leave a review, I love to know what you guys think.**

**-****村山鶴**


	4. Why are Taxes and Meetings so Hard?

**Hey guys, Murayama Tsuru here. I just realized that I'm doing a similar story as Sorachi-Sensei did (like my last Abuto story…except not really). I haven't really been reading Gintama online recently so I had no idea that that gorilla had Gin-chan and Hijikata switch bodies, pretty cool man. I guess Sorachi and I create stories on similar wavelengths; it's no wonder I write so much for this series ^_^. Well, let's get to the chapter then, shall we ^_^**

_**Disclaimer: I don't own Gintama; it belongs to Sorachi Hideaki-Sensei.**_

Abuto woke up groggy, bleary eyed, and confused; he didn't remember his room being this big before. There was also an incessant pounding at his door and an oddly familiar voice was yelling extremely loudly, "Admiral, get up! You're going to be late for that meeting with the Kiheitai!"

Even more confused, Abuto wanted to reply, 'What are you talking about? I'm not the admiral…at times I do more work than him, but I'm Abuto.' But then he remembered what happened yesterday and that he was in the admiral's body at the moment. Remembering this, all previous grogginess fell away as he realized he did have to meet with the Kiheitai today.

Then Abuto took a look at the clock that was near Kamui's dresser; it read a time a lot latter than Abuto was used to getting, which explained the grogginess he'd felt upon waking. Being as old as he was (except not really), and working for Kamui as he did, Abuto was used to waking up at an unfortunately early hour to either tend to his boss or because he couldn't fall asleep anymore (usually both).

Feeling rushed, Abuto cursed Kamui for not telling him when, exactly, this stupid meeting was taking place and the fact that he was now young enough to sleep in so late. And now he had to find wherever Kamui put his clothes. 'It's just annoyance upon annoyance this morning' Abuto thought with irritation as he looked through Kamui's stuff.

After about a minute, there was a bang and Abuto turned to see the door slam open and Abuto came face to face with himself (it was still a very weird sensation). Kamui, smiling menacingly, said, "Admiral, when you didn't answer the door I got worried. So, I decided to come in myself. What's taking so long?"

Abuto rolled his eyes at that, "Well, it seems I can't find anything to wear to this meeting; maybe it's memory loss again."

"I certainly doubt that." Kamui replied with a smile. He then went over to the opposite side of the room that Abuto had been looking, opened a drawer, and pulled some clothes out. Kamui then turned to Abuto, smile still in place and said, "But, to aid the process of you getting to that meeting in time, here you are. I hope your memory improves, admiral, or we might have to take you to a doctor, won't we?"

Abuto scoffed, "I'll whack you in the head with a cast-iron skillet before I let that happen." He'd had up to hear with Kamui's smile (he was still tired, after all), it almost made him look forward to meeting with Takasugi Shinsuke…almost.

As Abuto changed into new clothes, he said to his boss, "So, you neglected to tell me what time this 'strategy session' was. Is there a reason for that?"

Kamui made a noise that sounded like verbal shrug, "Dunno, I guess I just forgot that you were the one going and not me. But, either way, you have about five minutes to get there. Better start running."

Abuto rolled his eyes once more as he finished securing his cape, "Thanks for the advice," Abuto said sardonically, "I guess I'll have to take it since you didn't tell me when I had to wake up."

Picking up his umbrella, Abuto turned to Kamui one last time and said, "Don't forget to do those taxes, 'Abuto'. They're due soon, after all."

Kamui gave a noncommittal wave of his hand, "Yeah, yeah, I'll get to it. First, though, I have to take nap. Did you know you have your alarm set for some ungodly hour? Because you forgot to reset it, you'll have to get yourself a new one, I accidently smashed it when it wouldn't stop beeping."

Abuto sighed as stepped out of Kamui's room, "Why don't you do that for me, admiral? You are the one who broke it after all."

Kamui tapped a finger against his chin in thought, "I'll see what I can do. But for now, you have to get going."

"Yeah, yeah," Abuto said, "I'm going." And Abuto took off running at top speed in the direction of the Kiheitai's ship.

* * *

Takasugi Shinsuke tapped his foot in annoyance; Kamui was late to their strategy session and Takasugi wasn't happy about that. They had planned this meeting weeks and now the red-headed Yato had the gall to stand him up? If the Harusame Space Pirates weren't so necessary for his plan to destroy Edo, then Takasugi would have ditched them for an insult such as this. But, the Kiheitai needed the Harusame at the moment, so ditching them wasn't an option. If Kamui didn't come soon, Takasugi knew the second thing he would destroy after Edo.

Just as Takasugi was reaching his most impatient, the door to the meeting room opened with a loud clack and in came Kamui, breathing as if he had run from wherever he was before (something that didn't surprise Takasugi at all, as Yato seemed especially dedicated to training of any kind). With an annoyed scowl, Takasugi hissed, "You're late."

Kamui knitted his eyebrows in consternation (Takasugi thought that was pretty weird) and looked at the clock that was behind the Kiheitai's leader. After a moment, Kamui said, a frown creasing his face, "I'm only late by a minute and a half. Why are you so pissed? It's not like I didn't come at all."

Takasugi blinked in surprise, this didn't seem like Kamui at all to sound talk like this; sure the Yato wasn't he most polite being in the universe, but Takasugi didn't remember him sounding so…different. And then, there wasn't that trademark smile, the over gluttonous Yato usually wore. Takasugi was more than a little suspicious.

'Kamui' seemed to realize that he was being out of character as well because a smile that Takasugi didn't feel was quite right appeared on the Yato's face and he amended what he had said, "I mean, I didn't think I was so late as to incur such a reaction; it seems you are as impatient as Hosen-Danna."

That still didn't seem right to Takasugi (and 'Kamui' knew it too), but there was no longer any time for pointless arguments, so Takasugi decided to let it slid this time. With a nod, Takasugi motioned to one of the Zabuton cushions a little ways away and said, "Shall we begin?"

"Yes." 'Kamui' said with a curt nod. The admiral of the Harusame then sad down on one of the cushions and Takasugi sat on the other one. Once the two were seated comfortably, Takasugi took out his Kiseru and lit it.

Taking a long drag on the pipe, Takasugi said, "I have some news about the Ikeda Yaemon."

'Why should the Harusame care about some executioner .' thought, still irritated that he had to be here in the first place. Aloud, he said, (quite disinterestedly), "What is it?"

"The eighteenth has been decapitated and Hitotsubashi Nobunobu has secured his place as leader of the Hitotsubashi clan. Things are running smoothly as planned."

Abuto sighed, it was probably out of character for Kamui, but Abuto really felt he had to air his thoughts on the subject, "What does this matter?" he asked

Takasugi narrowed his eye into a dark glare, "Excuse me?" He hissed, his voice deadly quiet

Abuto sighed again, "All I mean is, despite all your ranting about wanting to destroy Edo, you haven't actually gotten around to doing that. You make all these plans to get high ranking Bakufu officials on your side and in a position of government that will benefit you, but that's it. It seems so long term. It seems to me that you're more invested in changing the government than destroying the city. If your goals have changed, I don't think there's anything wrong with that; but it seems, then, that you no longer need Harusame support if destruction is no longer your main objective."

Abuto knew that this was most likely going to bite him in the ass later, but he really didn't understand what Takasugi was doing, getting in with all these Bakufu people if his goal was destruction. Takasugi did not seem impressed with Abuto's speech as his glare was still in place and more intense than ever.

Takasugi frowned at Abuto, "I never thought I'd hear something like that from you, Kamui. After all, the only thing on your mind seems to be food and a good fight. But, if you must know, my plans all have very important parts in the eventual destruction of Edo. All of my allies agree with me that the Bakufu needs to be changed and that complete annihilation of the current Edo is the path that needs to be taken. If the Harusame no longer think that's true, then maybe this is more of a meeting of severance than a strategy session. Do I make myself clear?"

'As a bell.' Abuto thought, "You misunderstand," the Yato said out loud, "I didn't mean to say that the Harusame will withdraw support, just that you seem to no longer need us if what you want is political gain. It is, after all, completely up to what plans you make with the officials of a government you hope to destroy. We just don't understand where all this is leading. I guess, though, that this is why we're having this meeting; to make clear the details of where you are going with this convoluted plan of yours. And if you're not open to suggestion, then maybe I shouldn't be here."

"Hm," was all Takasugi said as a response, making Abuto worry that he'd really stuck his foot in his mouth this time. Thankfully, though, Takasugi continued speaking, "I suppose you do have a point that even though my plans are so clear to me, they are not as evident to those around me. Maybe it's time you learned more about where I'm going with this."

Just as Abuto was about to agree, his stomach growled loudly, making Abuto remember that he hadn't actually had time for breakfast before he came running down to this meeting. Abuto then heard Takasugi chuckle (a noise that sounded so strange coming from the one-eyed psychopath), followed by a smirk, "Well, I guess it's time we break for lunch, isn't it. I almost forgot how you Yato eat."

Abuto sighed as Takasugi left to go get lunch (Abuto was amazed he didn't have someone to do that for him); at least he would have a short break before he messed things up even further. Kamui was probably having a much better time than Abuto was at the moment; after all, how hard could finding a place to do taxes be?

* * *

"What do you mean what schedule are we declared on?" Kamui asked the lady at the tax office, irritation and confusion in his voice; he was not having fun at the moment. After a nice nap and a large meal, Kamui decided it was time to do as Abuto asked and get these taxes done (to prove Abuto wrong when he said no one could do them).

But when he had started them, he had no idea what he was doing; the math would likely be no problem for him, but he didn't understand what exactly the form was asking for. After a while of puzzling over what he had to do, Kamui realized that Abuto was right and he couldn't do it.

With an irritated smile, Kamui left the ship to find some place that did taxes (much to his chagrin). It was hard to find a place, too; every place that Kamui went seemed to shut their doors the second they saw him. Kamui imagined that it had something to do with the fact that he was Harusame, which didn't really surprise the (now) sandy-haired Yato seeing as the Harusame weren't exactly known for their kindness. Nonetheless though, every time Kamui saw a closed sign, his irritation grew more and more. Kamui wasn't sure how Abuto stood doing anything like this (like when Kamui sent him out for food(; it was more than infuriating.

And then, once he'd finally found a place where the people inside didn't seem to jump out of their skins when they saw him approaching, the lady at the front desk asked him that strange question; how the hell was Kamui supposed to know what schedule they declared their taxes on?

With a patient smile, the lady said, "What I mean is, what form do you need to determine how much you owe in taxes?"

That didn't help Kamui at all; again, how was he supposed to know something like that. With a smile of his own, he took out the form that Abuto had given him yesterday and said, "I don't know, but maybe these can help you out?"

Once Kamui handed the lady the tax forms, she looked them over and the blood drained from her face. Once she had finished her look-through of the forms, she looked up at Kamui again and stuttered, "Y-you're Harusame?" Kamui nodded and the lady paled even more, "I-I'm not sure that I c-can help you with these…"

Kamui's smile turned toothy and feral, "I think you'll find you can. If you don't, my boss will find out about it and he will be very displeased. And if Admiral Kamui is displeased, you'll have the whole Harusame Space Pirates swarming this place. Is that what you want?"

Eyes now wide in fear, the lady gulped, "I-I'll get to it right away…I-if you want, you can go get lunch…I'm sure I'll be done by then…"

"Oh, I don't think so," Kamui smiled, "I imagine I'll get better results if I stay right here."

The lady swallowed again, "O-ok, then, I'll get s-started right away…" Kamui's smile widened in response; maybe this wasn't such an infuriating experience after all.

**And that is the end of that chapter. Sorry that it's a day late; I was a little busy yesterday and didn't get started until late. Well, I hope it was a good chapter ^_^ and I hope to see you again in the next one. As always, if you'd like please leave a review, I love to know what you guys think ^_^**

**-****村山鶴**


	5. What? Kamui Doesn't Play Mahjong?

**Hey guys, Murayama Tsuru here…it's been a while hasn't it…oops…what can I say? The Olympics came on and it decided to distract me from writing…you know, figure skaters spinning and jumping is pretty distracting after all…well, enough with the excuses, here's the chapter ^_^**

_**Disclaimer: I don't own Gintama; it belongs to Sorachi Hideaki-Sensei.**_

Kamui exited the tax office, humming happily; he'd successfully gotten the taxes done despite Abuto's lack of faith in him. And, better yet, he'd done it with very little work on his part. Now, all that was left was to buy Abuto a new alarm clock (although, he didn't really see why that was necessary). But, Abuto was the 'boss' at the moment; and as a 'subordinate', Kamui had to do as the 'boss' said, right?

As Kamui was thinking about what kind of alarm clock to get Abuto (something that would embarrass him, of course), his stomach growled. It seemed it was time for a second lunch. All thoughts of buying a new alarm clock leaving Kamui's head, the Yato began looking for a place to eat.

Just As his stomach's patience for going without food for too long was reaching its peak, the admiral of the Harusame Space Pirates found one a place that seemed good enough. Kamui went in and all activity in the restaurant seemed to freeze. As usual, his Harusame Space Pirate (not to mention Yato) reputation preceded him and everyone in the restaurant was afraid of him.

For some reason, this never seemed to happen when Kamui went out on his own; but that was most likely because Kamui didn't look very threatening to the untrained eye (and how wrong that eye was indeed). Abuto on the other hand, did look somewhat more threatening than Kamui did (even though Kamui hated to admit that), so that was most likely reason for the fear that seemed to be pulsating throughout the room.

But, Kamui was too hungry to care about that at the moment, he was going to eat no matter how afraid these people were of him. Kamui then went up to the counter, looked at the menu, and, after a moment of thought, said with a smile, "I'd like one of everything, please."

The person behind the counter, looking surprised, stuttered, "Y-yes sir, right away…w-why don't you go have a seat and your food will be out in a moment…"

"Huh," Kamui said, "What about payment? As much as I love a free meal, I'd rather get it from someone who doesn't seem to be struggling to stay afloat. How much do I owe you?"

The man gulped and quickly punched some numbers into the cash register. The man then turned the register monitor towards Kamui, showing him how much his 'one of everything cost…it was a little more than Kamui had anticipated and he knew Abuto didn't actually have that much money with him. But, planning to make good on paying, he reached into Abuto's pocket and pulled out his wallet.

Kamui then saw something that made him smile; Abuto seemed to have a credit card. This could be fun. Smile widening, Kamui handed the man Abuto's card. With a confused look (probably wondering why this scary customer would be smiling about a credit card), he ran the card and handed it back to Kamui. The man then took a receipt from the register and a pen from a nearby jar and said, a stutter still in his voice, "S-sign please."

Kamui nodded and signed the small piece of paper (hoping just a little bit that his forgery of Abuto's signature wasn't too bad). If it was wrong, the clerk made no mention of it at all. The clerk nodded at Kamui and said, "W-well, I guess you can sit down now. Your food will be out in just a little while."

Kamui smiled in return, "I can't wait, I'm starving." The Yato then sat down at one of the available tables (amazingly, the place hadn't cleared out as soon as Kamui had turned his back).

After a wait that almost made his stomach want to rebel against the rest of his body (making Kamui feel pretty impatient), his food started coming out. As the first dish was set down in front of him, he devoured it faster than it took for the second plate of food to be put onto his table. This continued until about ten dishes in when Kamui was finally starting to feel a little less starving. And eventually, Kamui started eating at a slow enough rate that the servers were able to pile the food onto the table without having to take too many dishes away during the same trip.

'Ah,' Kamui thought once he had finished eating, 'it's good to have a meal like this every once a day at least. I guess I'll have to thank Abuto when I get back. Now, though, I should get back to alarm clock shopping.'

Having decided what to do next, the Yato stood up, nodded at the clerk one more time in thanks for the meal, and left the restaurant feeling nice and full. Kamui then started wandering almost aimlessly through the city in search of a place that sold alarm clocks. Kamui then realized he had absolutely no idea where the hell he would even go about buying an alarm clock in the first place.

Deciding that it might be a better idea to just give up and go back to the ship to await Abuto and the results of his meeting, Kamui turned to leave the city. As he was walking along, he thought he heard someone call out, "Oi, Jiraiya, what are you doing here?" but, forgetting that Abuto's nickname was Jiraiya among certain people, Kamui kept walking.

But then Kamui heard the same voice only louder this time, "Jiraiya, are you ignoring me now? After all we've been through? I thought we knew each other better than that, c'mon…"

Feeling irritated now, Kamui started walking a little faster. But a moment later, he felt a tap on his shoulder. Turning around, Kamui was ready to admonish whoever it was for having the nerve to interrupt his plans. Kamui was then met with the familiar dead-fish like look of Sakata Gintoki. With a chuckle, the silver-haired Samurai raised an eyebrow, "I didn't know it took so much to get your attention, Jiraiya-kun. Is everything alright?"

Kamui felt what was akin to panic bubble up briefly inside him; Sakata Gintoki may not look it, but he would probably be able to tell that 'Abuto' wasn't himself at the moment if Kamui didn't play his role right. So with what Kamui hoped was an annoyed sigh he said, "The 'admiral' had me running errands. For some reason, he wanted me to go find a place to do the taxes. And, to top that off, he broke his alarm clock this morning and is making me buy a new one…."

"Wow," Gin said, looking slightly surprised, "I didn't know that brat used an alarm clock, he seems more the type to wake up about five minutes before he's needed…although, I guess I'm not that great of a judge…"

'That's right,' Kamui thought with a huff, 'you don't get to judge my sleeping habits.' Kamui shrugged in response, "Yeah, I thought so too. I guess people can surprise us all the time."

"Indeed." Gin concluded with a nod, "Well, I guess I should let you go; Kagura's bratty Nii-chan does seem pretty impatient."

Kamui felt the urge to give this silver-haired idiot a good smack swell up inside him, but he forced it down; there was no need to cause a scene that would most likely involve his sister. Kamui was about to agree that he needed to go when he remembered that he still needed to get that replacement alarm clock for the one he'd broken (and that he had no idea where alarm clocks were sold).

So instead of enacting his first plan, Kamui said, "Well, I don't actually know where I can buy an alarm clock. Could you point me in the right direction?"

"Sure," Gin said, "follow me." Before Kamui could tell Gin that he only needed to tell him where the store was, Gin was walking off in a different direction. With a shrug, Kamui started following the silver-haired Samurai.

A few minutes later, Kamui and Gin came out of a convenience store with a new alarm clock for 'Kamui'. Kamui was about to say goodbye to Gin when the silver-haired Samurai suddenly asked, "Hey, wanna go out to get drinks with me?"

Kamui's brows knitted in consternation, had Abuto ever gone drinking with Sakata Gintoki before? Before Kamui could ask Gin continued speaking, "Well, I need someone to drink with and you seem to have had a hard day, so why not come drink with me?"

Kamui shrugged mentally; if he knew Takasugi then he and Abuto would still be in a meeting (if Abuto hadn't screwed things up by revealing who he was). Kamui then shrugged for real, "Sure, why not." He said with a small smile, "let's go."

* * *

Abuto was amazed at the good quality food the Kiheitai had; he had always thought that Takasugi Shinsuke's group was on the poorer side of things seeing as they were (supposed to be) fugitives on the run from the Bakufu. But, he was wrong and Takasugi had served him a great meal. It didn't make it any easier for the rest of the meeting ahead.

Abuto then noticed Takasugi watching him eat, a small, amused smirk on his face; somehow, that irked the (for now) red-headed Yato more than a little. With what he hoped was a Kamui-esque smile, Abuto said, "It's quite rude to stare, you know."

Takasugi's eyebrow rose, "I wasn't staring, really." He said, "I just still find it amusing that you Yato can eat so much. It does make it a little hard for the Kiheitai when we have these meetings, though. But it does seem to be worth it, as Harusame Space Pirate input does seem rather useful after all."

"Really?" Abuto replied with a deadpan, "Earlier, it seemed you didn't think my information was all that valuable."

"Well," Takasugi said looking thoughtful, "it was refreshing to see you questioning me. Usually, you're rather silent during these sessions. Unless there's something you really have to say, of course. Well, shall we start again? There is other news I have to share."

'Well, this should be interesting,' Abuto thought, 'if he waited to share it after a Yato has eaten.'

Before Abuto could ask what this information was, though, Kawakami Bansai (a.k.a. headphones) came in and said, "Shinsuke, I'm sorry to interrupt, but there's something we need to discuss."

"Is it urgent? Or can it wait until after we're done here?" Takasugi asked, a serious look crossing his features

Headphones shook his head, "Unfortunately, it needs to be dealt with now."

Takasugi nodded and then turned to Abuto, "I'm sorry, admiral of the Harusame Space Pirates, but it seems there's something I need to take care of. I won't be long. I take it you can entertain yourself?"

Abuto nodded, smile in place again, "Sure, I'll be fine. Maybe you'll have more news to tell me when you get back?"

Takasugi returned Abuto's smile, with a chilling one of his own, "We shall see. Now, I must take my leave."

Abuto waved a half-hearted goodbye as the door shut with a loud clack. Once Abuto was sure no one was coming back in the next ten seconds, he slumped with a deep sigh; it was a lot harder than he thought pretending to be Kamui. His cheeks hurt from smiling too much, he wasn't sure how Kamui did it…especially around Takasugi Shinsuke.

With another sigh, Abuto slumped some more; he was starting to feel incredibly tired. Since Takasugi seemed like he was going to be a while, maybe it would be a good idea for Abuto to take a nap. Closing his eyes, Abuto was fully prepared to let sleep take him over.

But then, his eyes snapped open, previous exhaustion draining away very quickly as he realized where he was. What was he thinking, falling asleep on the Kiheitai ship? They may be partners, the Harusame and the Kiheitai, but Abuto knew that did not mean they were friendly towards each other. And falling asleep in almost enemy territory seemed like a very bad idea. So, Abuto would just have to find something else to do.

As Abuto looked around the room and his eyes landed on a box of Mahjong tiles. With a faint smile of memories long passed, the Yato reached over and grabbed the box and set up the tiles. It had been a long time since he'd played any variant of this game, so he lazily started picking up matching tiles and putting them to the side, getting into the rhythm of the game.

What felt like a short time later, the door opened again just as Abuto was finishing his tenth game. Abuto was about to turn around and greet Takasugi again when he felt cold steel press against the back of his neck.

In an instant, Abuto's hands grabbed his umbrella and pointed it upwards at his would-be attacker's head, "It's not nice to point your sword at people. Especially if they're your allies." He said nonchalantly

"Likewise about guns to people's heads." Came Takasugi's cold reply

Abuto rolled his eyes, "Well then, why don't you put your sword down and I'll drop my umbrella. Does that sound fair?"

There was a pause until Abuto eventually asked, "Why exactly are you doing this? I know we'll eventually fight each other, but does it have to be now? It seems rather inopportune."

"That may be," Takasugi commented lightly, "but you're not that Yato so I don't have any qualms about cutting you."

"And nor I shooting you." Abuto said in the same light voice, "but how do you know I'm not Kamui? You could be making a huge mistake."

"You're playing Mahjong." Takasugi said simply

"So?" Abuto replied, not seeing why his playing Mahjong was such a bad thing

"I have never seen you play Mahjong before, Kamui." Takasugi answered, "and when I asked one time, you said you didn't play. It seems rather sudden that you would start. Who are you and who are you working for?"

Abuto rolled his eyes again, "I'm Kamui and I'm the admiral of the Harusame Space Pirates. And it seems I've changed since the last time you asked whether I played Mahjong or not. Why don't you gather two more of your Kiheitai subordinates and we can play together?"

There was another pause and Abuto was starting to feel really uncomfortable with sword pressed against his neck, he really wished this would end soon and they could just get back to their meeting. "Why mahjong?" Takasugi asked eventually

"Well excuse me for trying to entertain myself. Just because I tried something different out, doesn't mean I'm not who I say I am." Abuto answered

The next words Takasugi spoke made Abuto's heart sink, "I don't believe you. And now that I think about it, something's seemed off ever since you walked into this room. You have ten seconds to tell me the truth or your neck gets cut off."

'And your head gets blown off.' Abuto thought, 'and then we most likely end up dead. Nothing gets solved that way.'

After considering his options, Abuto sighed deeply, "Fine," he said, "I'll tell you the truth. But only if you remove your sword from the back of my neck."

A moment of strained silence ensued and Abuto was sure that he'd have to pull the trigger of his umbrella-gun (which would effectively end the Harusame-Kiheitai alliance) but then, Abuto felt the sensation of sharp steel leave his neck. Abuto reciprocated and lowered his umbrella as well.

Takasugi then sat across from Abuto and raised an eyebrow, "Well? I'm waiting."

Abuto cocked his head at Takasugi, his lips curling into a smile. Abuto then stood up and after seeing the confused look on Takasugi's face started running; there was no way in hell he was going to tell the leader of the Kiheitai what had happened with him and Kamui…at least not if the Kiheitai couldn't catch him.

**And that is the end of that chapter ^_^ boy it's fun to get back into writing…again…sorry for the break…the Olympics can be really distracting. Well, that's enough outta me. See you next chapter. As always, if you'd like please leave a review I love to know what you guys think ^_^**

**-****村山鶴**


	6. Can You Guys Mess Things Up Any Worse?

**Hey guys, Murayama Tsuru here. Welcome to the 6****th**** chapter ^_^ wow, I updated when I used to update on Thursdays. That's amazing. Well, here's the chapter, I hope you guys enjoy ^_^**

_**Disclaimer: I don't own Gintama; it belongs to Sorachi Hideaki-Sensei.**_

Huffing, Abuto poured on more speed as he ran through the Kiheitai ship. This was the second time he was running at full speed and the full stomach was not helping anything. If only he hadn't messed things up by playing Mahjong (he still didn't really understand what the problem was) he might still be in a meeting with Takasugi.

Instead, he was running at top speed towards the exit so the Kiheitai leader wouldn't find out who he really was. And he was almost there too. Abuto could see the exit just a few feet away. So, the Yato tried running a little bit faster than he already was to reach the home free zone.

Suddenly, the door slammed shut and a whole bunch of people came out of nowhere. So, Abuto turned around to go back the way he came and create a new exit if the need arose…which is what he should have done in the first place but clearly he wasn't thinking straight.

Unfortunately, though, there was a phalanx of people behind him now too; he was surrounded. Abuto sighed in irritation, if he really wanted to he could just beat up all of the guys here and then leave as if nothing had happened. But that would most likely strain Kiheitai and Harusame relations even further than he'd already made them by playing Mahjong...

'Dammit Kamui,' Abuto thought angrily, 'why couldn't you have just let me teach you Mahjong? Then I wouldn't be in this situation.'

Just Abuto was coming to the decision that he would have to beat up all the people in his way, the group of people parted and Takasugi Shinsuke appeared, looking about as irritated as Abuto felt at the moment. The one-eyed man gave Abuto a look and said, "Did you really think you could get away, imposter?"

Abuto rolled his eyes in response, "I'm not an imposter. For some reason, though, you don't believe me. And your evidence? I played a game of Mahjong because I was bored. That hardly counts as evidence, you know. For all you know, my unofficial second in command could have taught me how to how to play the game. Did you ever think of that possibility?"

Takasugi scoffed, "Yeah right. If you rejected my offer to teach you Mahjong why would you take his? He doesn't seem like he would be very good at Mahjong either."

Abuto sighed, "Well, you're wrong about that. Abuto taught me everything I know about Mahjong. Maybe if you cared to play a game with me, you'd know that."

"Oh?" Takasugi sneered, "And what happened when I beat you?"

"If you beat me," Abuto corrected, "I'll tell you why I ran. But, if I win then you let me go, no questions asked."

"Is that so? Do you really want to take me on? I doubt Abuto is good enough at Mahjong for you to beat me." Takasugi said, smirking

"Is that a challenge?" Abuto asked, a smile on his own face

"I guess it is." Takasugi responded. The one-eyed Samurai then waved to his men who, all at once, nodded and dispersed.

Abuto looked around at in some wonder at how quickly the rest of the Kiheitai had disappeared. As Abuto was looking around the now empty part of the ship, Takasugi interrupted him, "Are you planning on running again? If you are, I won't proceed as leniently as I have." When Abuto shook his head Takasugi turned around and started walking away, motioning lazily with his hand, "Follow me." Was all he said.

Abuto was not impressed, did this guy really think he was just going to follow? 'How arrogant.' Abuto thought with an irritated sigh. But he did eventually follow the leader of the Kiheitai like he had ordered, if only because he wanted to wipe the smug look off his face when 'Kamui' beat him at Mahjong.

Not once when Abuto and Takasugi were making their way back to the one-eyed Samurai's room did said one-eyed Samurai look back; it annoyed Abuto more than a little bit that the leader of the Kiheitai was so confident Abuto would be following him that he'd have no need to check.

It was only when they returned to the room Abuto had previously run from did the leader of the Kiheitai turn towards Abuto and say with a smirk, "So, I don't have to call my men to find you again."

"Why would you?" Abuto scoffed, "I never run from a fight. Even if it's not a physical one. Now, let's get started, shall we? Or do you need to get a third player?"

"I guess under typical rules we would. But, I think if you can play by yourself, we don't need another player. Now, shall we?"

"Fine," Abuto said, nodding towards the Mahjong pieces, "you can be the dealer."

"Oh," and eyebrow raised skeptically, "now why is that? I imagine that the challenger would want to deal."

"Let's just get started." Abuto sighed, "all this arguing is a waste of time."

"Indeed." Takasugi nodded. The two then sat down once again and began to set up the Mahjong tiles. Once they had been shuffled, Takasugi dealt out the two hands. Abuto sighed; it had been a pretty long time since he'd played Mahjong with another person so winning this game might take more doing than he wanted.

After what felt like hours, Abuto sighed in defeat. It had been pretty close, but a loss was a loss and now Abuto would be forced to keep his promise…he was not looking forward to that in the least.

"Well," Takasugi said, surveying the pieces, "I think you've shown me that you can, in fact, play Mahjong. It seems that I was wrong. Maybe I should just let you go."

"You'd really just do that?" Abuto asked, surprised

"Of course I would." Takasugi said nonchalantly, "but, I would also send someone into the Harusame to spy on you which would eventually lead me to what's really going on. The choice is yours, though, you can either tell me what's going on or I can find out by other means. Either way, I will know what's going on. So, what will it be?"

Abuto pursed his lips, weighing his options; was it worth it to have a spy sent to the Harusame? Of course it wasn't, there were other secrets said spy could learn that would not be good for the Harusame Space Pirates or for Kamui.

With another sigh, Abuto said, "Fine, I'll tell you myself. The truth is…Kamui and I somehow switched bodies. You're talking to Abuto right now, not Kamui."

Takasugi's eye went wide in shock for a moment. And then it narrowed as if he didn't believe what Abuto had just said. Then, his eyebrow rose and he said, "Is that so. Prove it to me then."

Abuto blinked in confusion, "How the hell am I supposed to prove something like that? It's not like we've spent much time together so I can't exactly tell you something that Kamui doesn't already know."

"Oh, but you can." Takasugi smiled, "We spent three unfortunate days in Washington D.C. together with Gintoki. I'm sure you can tell me about that." Abuto sighed once again, this was going to be a long 'meeting'. Abuto wondered if Kamui was having a better time than he was.

* * *

Kamui was not having a fun time at all. He did not want to be drinking with Sakata Gintoki in this noisy bar. Frankly, he didn't want to be drinking at all. All Kamui wanted to do was escape and go back to the Harusame ship to see if Abuto had messed everything up and the whole of the Kiheitai knew their predicament now.

But, he was here in some dingy-looking bar with an incredibly drunk Sakata Gintoki. This was sure to be a long evening. Just as Kamui was thinking this, Gin asked, "You're not gonna drink, Jiraiya-kun. You really seemed like the type to me…I distinctly remember that night when you told me, as a woman, you were you. You were dead drunk then…what's changed?"

'I don't drink,' Kamui wanted to say, but that definitely wasn't Abuto so instead Kamui said, "Well, I guess I got sick of telling my secrets when I'm around you so I think I'm just not gonna drink."

"Ah, c'mon," Gin said a little aggressively, "have a drink. You seem like you've had a hard day, doing taxes and buying alarm clocks. Why not take a load off with some Sake. My treat."

"I thought you were broke." Kamui said, remembering past complaints, "and I have a credit card. You sure you don't want me to pay?"

"You'd do that?" Gin asked, looking surprised, "I guess I'll have to take you up on that, eh? Only if you have a drink as well, though."

This seemed to be going nowhere so Kamui sighed, "Fine," he said, "I'll have a drink." And he picked up his glass and chugged the whole thing. His eyes started watering then and his throat burned as the alcohol made its way down his throat.

Coughing, Kamui wondered aloud, "How the hell can Abuto drink this stuff?"

"What was that?" Gin said

"Nothing," Kamui said hastily, "just thinking aloud about how, whatever this drink is, is a little stronger than I'm used to…"

Gin didn't seem to like that answer somehow, but he said nothing and took another sip from his own glass. Even though Kamui hadn't liked whatever it was he had just chugged down, he found himself wanting more. So he spoke aloud, "Bartender," his words sounded a little slurred to his own ears, "could I have another one of these? I'm feeling thirsty all of a sudden."

"Sure," the person across the counter said, "coming right up."

"I thought you said you drink was a little too strong for you." Gin smirked

Kamui rolled his eyes, "I got thirsty, that's all. And whatever I'm drinking will be able to quench that for me."

"That's how is always starts." Gin said, smirk still in place, if not a little bigger now

After several more drinks, Kamui could barely keep his thoughts straight, let alone his words. He didn't think he'd ever felt this funny before, but for some reason, Abuto never let him near alcohol so he never got the chance to drink like this before. Kamui would have to remember to make sure Abuto let him drink again in the future…

Gin said something that Kamui couldn't really make out through the haze that seemed to have descended onto his ears. But for some reason, Kamui thought it was really funny and soon the two were deep into a fit of giggles.

Suddenly, Gin said, "Ya know, we should do this more often, Jiraiya. You're a lot of fun to drink with. Much more fun than I would have thought."

Kamui laughed at that, "Of course I'm more fun than Abuto," He said, "'cuz I'm not him. I'm Kamui."

"Eh?" Gin questioned, sounding a lot less drunk than Kamui did, "What did you say?"

"You heard me," Kamui said with a drunken smile, "I'm Kamui. Somehow, Abuto and I switched bodies. Now, he's at a meeting with Takasugi Shinsuke and I'm drinking with you. I say I got the better deal this time." And the admiral of the Harusame Space Pirates collapsed into a drunken stupor where he sat.

"Eh?" Gin said again a moment later. He may be a little drunk, but his ears definitely weren't mistaken. Gin really needed to learn to stop hanging around these Harusame Yato, weird things tended to happen when they were around. Now Gin was stuck with a passed out drunk Abuto, or Kamui or whoever he was. This did not seem like a good thing in the least.

After stewing over what had just happened in the last five seconds, Gin picked Abuto up, left the bar and started back towards his place. Maybe things could be better explained tomorrow once the alcohol had worn off. 'Man,' Gin thought as he walked along, 'I sure hope whoever's in the Kiheitai with Bakasugi right now doesn't freak out too much when they find this one gone…'

* * *

Mikazuki Tsumi entered the library that her mother kept on various spells. When she was little she used to love to come in here to look up the most ridiculous sounding ones, like changing people's genders or making breasts bigger. In fact, she still loved doing that.

But she wasn't here to look up something for fun. Abuto and Kamui's predicament was puzzling to her as she couldn't actually sense what kind of spell it was from physical contact. So here she was, looking up spells that involved switching bodies.

And she found that there were way too many of those. Almost every book she looked at had some variant of that kind of spell in it. At the rate she was going it would take a lot longer to narrow what kind of body switching spell had been used. It was going to be an exhausting evening to be sure.

Then, Tsumi happened upon an old, musty-looking book labeled "How to Cast Spells Other Spell Users Cannot Detect". It seemed an obvious choice to Tsumi as she hadn't been able to sense what kind of spell had been used. Maybe this evening wouldn't be so exhausting after all and she could solve Abuto's and Kamui's problem faster than she originally expected.

As soon as she opened the book, though, the door to the library creaked open and someone stepped inside. Tsumi wanted to ignore it, but she knew that this particular library was off-limits to the general members of the group at the moment while her mother was away.

Annoyed that someone would ignore her mother's orders, Tsumi called out, "You know you're not supposed to be here, right? If there's something you need, just tell me what it is and I'll look it up for you."

"But you are what I'm looking for." Was the reply that Tsumi got, "And you're getting too close to knowing what spell I cast. I believe this calls for a small violation of the rules."

Tsumi did not like the sound of that. The psychic girl stood up and quickly mouthed a spell, sending the book she was looking at into another dimension. But before Tsumi could make any more moves to escape, she sensed someone behind her.

Before she could turn to see who it was, a damp cloth was pressed against her nose and mouth. The cloth had a sickly sweet smell and Tsumi knew immediately that it was chloroform. As the world began to go dark, Tsumi heard the same voice say, "Sorry my dear, but I must get you out of the way for now. The Harusame are a hindrance that needs to be stopped."

**And that is the end of that chapter. Oh boy, Tsumi's in trouble…I wonder what's gonna happen…well, I guess we will know the answer to that next week…well, part of the answer anyways. But that's a story for next chapter. Until next week then, guys ^_^ as always, if you'd like please leave a review I love to know what you guys think.**

**-****村山鶴**


	7. Who Knew Sweets Were Good For Hangovers?

**Hey guys, Murayama Tsuru here. Sorry for the late update, I had to take a plane to Japan for semester abroad and jetlag and orientation for the school seem to have taken up quite a bit of time that could have been devoted to writing. But, now I'm back (maybe even regularly) with a chapter. Here it is, I hope you enjoy ^_^**

_**Disclaimer: I don't own Gintama; it belongs to Sorachi Hideaki-Sensei**_

Takasugi still did not look impressed with Abuto's revelation about how he had switched bodies with Kamui. His eyebrow was raised even higher than it had been before, the one-eyed Samurai said, "You're not trying to trick me are you? If you are, this isn't a very funny joke."

"I wish it was a joke," Abuto sighed, feeling exasperated, even after talking for a long time about the few days Abuto, Takasugi, and Gin were in D.C. this one-eyed bonehead didn't believe him, "it would be much easier if this were some kind of joke. But unfortunately, it's not. I'm Abuto and Kamui is me doing who know what in Edo. I'm sure he didn't even get the taxes done like I asked him to. Probably got distracted by food or a fight. He really can be a pain sometimes, you know."

"And you've never been distracted before?" Takasugi asked suddenly

"Hah?" Abuto intoned, "What does that have to do with anything? Sure I've been distracted before, but not when it comes to important stuff like doing taxes."

"Oh?" Takasugi gave Abuto a look, "And what about when you met the Kujaku Hime? I heard you were pretty distracted then."

"Wha?" Abuto looked incredulously at Takasugi, "Where would you have heard that from? The last time I checked, you and your Kiheitai weren't around when I met Kada."

"But I was when Kamui told me about it. It seems you Yato are bad at keeping secrets. Like your boss probably shouldn't have told me about your infatuation with the Kujaku Hime, you really shouldn't have told me about this."

"What choice did I have?" Abuto growled, "Not tell you anything and have you send a spy to the Harusame? That didn't sound like a good deal to me. Anyways, what benefit does knowing my 'secret' get you? Not much it seems."

"I guess you haven't done much blackmail in your time." Takasugi said with a smile that made Abuto cringe, "I wonder what you would do to ensure that I don't talk?"

"Not much," Abuto said with a shrug, "I wouldn't benefit you all that much if you did tell anyone. Sure, there would be some that think this an opportunity to displace Kamui as admiral of the Harusame. But, I'm sure they don't know how much of that work is actually my doing. He says he wants to be the Pirate King, but it's me who has to get him there. So go ahead, tell someone in the Harusame who's on your side. I doubt it'll change anything."

Takasugi looked annoyed at that, "You're not as much of a pushover as Kamui made you out to be. It seems I may not have as much of a hold over you as I originally thought."

Abuto smirked and was about to respond with something snarky but the door opened before Abuto could get in even a word and headphones appeared again, "Shinsuke-san," he said, "something's come up that needs your attention."

Takasugi nodded at headphones and then turned to Abuto, "I believe this means you're off the hook for now. It seems that I have more pressing matters to attend to than the strange happenings in the Harusame at the moment. So, you are free to go."

"Are you gonna send a spy to the Harusame after all?" Abuto asked, hoping the answer would be 'no' since Abuto had told him what was going on

Takasugi's response was a small smile, "I guess you'll just have to come back for another game of Mahjong to find out. Do you need someone to lead you out or do you know the way?"

"We both know that I can leave perfectly easily. I think I'd rather not have an escort this time."

"Very well," Takasugi said, "Just don't stick your nose where it doesn't belong. You won't like what happens if you do." And Takasugi left, his threat hanging in the air.

Abuto waited until Takasugi's and headphones' footsteps faded away and then he sighed; so much for that. Maybe what he had said about it not being a big deal whether Takasugi told the rest of the Harusame what had happened to him and Kamui. But, it certainly didn't feel like any sort of victory to have told the leader of the Kiheitai this fact in the first place.

Abuto sighed, there really wasn't any use dwelling on this at the moment, it was time to get back to the ship and see how Kamui's day had gone. And whether or not he'd gotten those taxes done. Abuto slowly meandered his way out of the Kiheitai ship and back to his own; Takasugi Shinsuke may have told him not to 'poke his nose where it didn't belong', but that didn't mean Abuto had to leave in any sort of rush (although, he wasn't really sure what advantage being slow gave him).

Once Abuto was back in the Harusame ship, he went over to his room and opened the door (it was his room after all), saying, "Abuto, I'm back. Did you get those taxes done?"

Abuto was met the silence an empty room usually brought. It struck the (used to be) sandy haired Yato as odd that Kamui hadn't come back before he did as Abuto didn't imagine that the taxes would take that long (especially if Kamui got someone else to do them for him). Abuto searched around the room for a moment, wondering if Kamui had decided to play a prank on Abuto by hiding in his room.

But no, Kamui was nowhere to be found. This made Abuto wonder where the admiral could be (and, more importantly, how much trouble he was getting Abuto into). Seeing as Kamui wasn't in his room, Abuto left, intent on searching the whole ship to find his boss.

Before his search could get very far, though, someone said, "Admiral, it's time for dinner."

Abuto then felt his stomach rumble and decided that searching for Kamui could wait until after his stomach had been filled; after all, Abuto did deserve something for having to deal with Takasugi Shinsuke all day, didn't he? Without giving Kamui another thought, Abuto headed to the dining room.

* * *

The next morning, Kamui woke in unfamiliar surroundings to an incredible pounding in his head and almost no recollection of what he had done after going into that bar with Sakata Gintoki last night. Feeling disoriented and in pain, Kamui sat up and his vision swam before his eyes making him lie back down again.

Once Kamui was lying down again, somebody said, "That's what you get for trying any sudden movements when you have a hangover. I guess, if you were really Abuto, you'd know that wouldn't you?"

Kamui's eyes narrowed as he looked around for the source of the voice, what were they talking about? The only source he could find was a flash of silver and a pair of dead-fish looking red eyes. Eventually, then it hit him, Kamui was in Abuto's body at the moment. And, whoever was talking to him right now (the voice was familiar, but with the pounding in his head, he couldn't quite tell who was talking), knew that he was Kamui and not Abuto.

Groaning, Kamui said, "I guess that's true…I don't really drink, that's more Abuto's thing. Something about too much stress working with me." With an attempt at his usual smile, Kamui continued speaking, "But, if you know who I really am, I guess that means you're not long for this world, doesn't it?"

"Does that apply if you told me who you were yourself? It wasn't my fault you got so drunk. Yatos' lips seem to loosen up a little too much when they drink. Who knows who else you would have told if I hadn't brought you back to the Yorozuya."

"Ah," Kamui said, remembering a little bit of what happened at the bar, "Ginpatsu Osamurai-san, it was kind of you to bring me back here. I take it my annoying little brat of a sister is still asleep?"

"Hah," Gin snorted when he heard Kamui's question, "Of course she's still asleep. Not even a pair of drunken idiots could wake her up. But, she'd think you were her precious 'Abu-chan' anyways, looking the way you do now. So, you gonna tell me how it happened that you and Jiraiya-kun switched bodies?"

It was Kamui's turn to snort, "You know you just called yourself an idiot, right?"

Gin's answer was a pointed look that made Kamui sigh, "Fine, I'll answer your question, I don't know how Abuto and I switched bodies. We were tried to get the psychic chick, or whatever, to find a way to switch us back, but she didn't know what the problem was."

"Ah," Gin said nodding sagely, "magic seems to be a theme with you guys, doesn't it? But, if Mikazuki Tsumi doesn't know what's wrong with you, who will?"

"She said something about her mom knowing more about spells than she did. But, she also said that her mom was at some conference or other. Y'know, as much as I love regaling what's happened, I think I need to get back to the ship now."

"Yeah?" Gin said, "You sure you don't want to stay any longer? Kagura would love to see her."

"No thanks." Kamui answered immediately, that particular meeting was off the table permanently, it was time to leave before Gin got any other strange ideas, "I really need to get going. Need to know how Abuto's meeting with Takasugi Shinsuke went. If he has any of our current luck, the leader of the Kiheitai knows what's going on too." At that, Kamui got up (despite the wave of nausea that came over him) and headed toward the door

"You're not even going to stay for breakfast?" Gin asked, making Kamui stop in his tracks

The admiral of the Harusame Space Pirates turned around and gave Gin a look, "Fine, I'll stay for breakfast. But only because I'm hungry. If my sister wakes up as I'm eating, I'm going to pretend to be Abuto, got that?"

Gin chuckled at that, "Wouldn't have it any other way, Jiraiya-kun. Now, I have the perfect hangover food, Anko with Mochi and whipped cream."

Kamui wasn't too sure about that, sweet on sweet on sweet didn't sound like it would cure anything, let alone a hangover. But Kamui was never one to turn down a free meal, so he sat down at the small table as Gin got the ingredients out.

A few minutes later, Gin set a bowl down in front of Kamui and said, "Well, there you go. Eat up."

Without thinking too hard about how cloyingly sweet the food Gin had set down smelled, Kamui took a bite. The admiral of the Harusame Space Pirates found it surprisingly good, for his hangover at least. "Wow," Kamui said, "you were right, this is so sweet that I'm aching for a completely different reason. I can see why you called this a hangover cure…"

Gin gave Kamui a small glare at that, "What are you going on about? This isn't so sweet. If I wasn't hungover, I'd go for something sweeter, like a strawberry-chocolate parfait."

Kamui didn't have a response to that, so he went back to eating. Just as Kamui finished eating and was about ready to head to the Harusame ship, he heard the sound of a door slid open and Kagura's sleepy voice drifted out, "Gin-chan, why are you eating that sweet slop again? It stinks, uh-huh…"

"Tch," Gin growled, "what's with you guys, huh? Sweets are good for you, why are you harping on the greatness that is sugar?"

Kamui stopped paying attention to the rest of the conversation as he was attempting to make a hasty get away before Kagura noticed him. But before he could get out the door, he heard Kagura say, "Abu-chan, is that you?"

Kamui didn't want to turn around at all. Despite being in Abuto's body, dealing with Kagura didn't seem very fun at the moment as she would probably figure out who he really was. But, just standing there, not giving an answer was rude (even by Yato standards). So, Kamui turned around and let that be his answer.

Kagura grinned in response, "What are you doing here, Abu-chan?"

Kamui opened his mouth to answer, but Gin did that for him, "Well, Jiraiya and I went out drinking yesterday. He got a little too drunk, so I brought him back here."

"That's what happened alright," Kamui agreed grumpily, "now, I really must be getting back to the ship. I'm sure the admiral has something he wants me to do."

Kagura frowned at that, "I'm sure my idiot Aniki can handle work himself, uh-huh. Stay a little longer, Abu-chan!"

Kamui sighed, he knew that protesting Kagura's request would lead nowhere. With a shrug, Kamui nodded, "Sure, I guess I could stay a little longer." What harm could a little more time at the Yorozuya be? Kamui moved away from the door and sat back down at the table with Gin and Kagura.

* * *

Tsumi's eyes opened in what was basically a jail cell. Feeling muzzy-headed and disoriented, she looked around her new surroundings. The room she was in was only large enough for her to pace around if she felt the need. Tsumi also found that she was tied up, which was not something she liked at all.

Anger welled up inside her as she remembered what happened in the library. She didn't know who her captor was, but once she got out of this cage, they would pay. Shifting a little bit in her bonds, Tsumi's lips started moving in a silent spell. The girls started glowing softly at first and then the light grew in intensity.

The light surrounding Tsumi suddenly went out, though, and the psychic girl found herself breathing hard, somehow she couldn't use a spell to get herself out of this room. Either the rope or the room was the cause of this particular predicament. The fact that she couldn't escape only fueled Tsumi's anger more.

Just as the psychic girl was think about what she would do to her captor once she got out, the doorknob to the room started turning. It seemed as if it were time for Tsumi to meet her captor face-to-face instead of just a voice in a dark room.

**And that is the end of that chapter. I don't seem to have anything else to say at the moment, so I shall leave you until next chapter. See you then.** **As always if you'd like please leave a review, I love to know what you guys think.**

**-****村山鶴**


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